Advisor / Consultant

Below is a complete JD for a Retail Business Expansion & Category Management Consultant, specifically suited for a company like Amartex that is looking to leverage expertise from Big Bazaar / Future Group / Reliance Retail / V-Mart / D-Mart / other large-format retail environments.

Job Description – Retail Business Expansion & Category Management Consultant

Company: Amartex Industries Ltd. / Amartex Family Mart

Location: Andheri, Mumbai

Position: Retail Business Expansion & Category Management Consultant

Engagement: Consultant/Advisor

Experience: 15+ Years in Modern Trade / Large-Format Retail / FMCG Retail

Preferred Background: Ex-Big Bazaar / Future Group / Reliance Retail / V-Mart / D-Mart /Large Retail Chains

Position Overview

We are looking for an experienced Retail Business Expansion & Category Management Consultant to provide strategic and hands-on guidance for the expansion and optimization of our retail business.

The consultant will be responsible for advising management on store expansion, category management, merchandising, private label development, supply chain, inventory productivity, store layout, SOPs, profitability and operational efficiency.

The ideal candidate should have strong practical experience in building and scaling supermarket, hypermarket, department store or multi-category retail formats.

Key Responsibilities

1. Category Management & Merchandising

• Develop category strategies aligned with sales, margin and customer requirements.
• Conduct SKU rationalization and identify high-, medium- and low-performing SKUs.
• Improve assortment planning and category productivity.
• Develop category-wise sales and margin improvement plans.
• Guide vendor selection, negotiation and commercial terms.
• Develop and strengthen private-label / in-house brand strategies.
• Optimize FMCG margins through pricing, buying and promotional strategies.
• Develop category-wise OTB, assortment, stock and replenishment frameworks.
• Identify slow-moving, non-moving and obsolete inventory and recommend corrective actions.

2. Store Layout & Visual Merchandising

• Design customer-friendly store layouts to improve customer flow and shopping experience.
• Develop planograms and category zoning.
• Optimize product placement based on customer behaviour and sales potential.
• Improve visibility of high-margin and strategic products.
• Develop impulse buying zones and cross-merchandising opportunities.
• Recommend space allocation based on category productivity.
• Standardize store presentation across multiple locations.

3. Supply Chain & Inventory Management

• Advise on Distribution Centre (DC) setup and operating model.
• Develop store replenishment and inventory movement systems.
• Improve stock availability while controlling excess inventory.
• Improve inventory turnover and stock productivity.
• Establish appropriate safety-stock and reorder-level mechanisms.
• Identify supply-chain bottlenecks and recommend corrective measures.
• Develop systems for reducing stock ageing, damages and inventory losses.

4. Loss Prevention & Shrinkage Control

• Review existing shrinkage and loss-prevention practices.
• Identify major sources of inventory loss.
• Establish controls for theft, pilferage, damages and operational leakage.
• Develop periodic inventory audit mechanisms.
• Recommend CCTV, EAS, access-control and operational controls where required.
• Establish store-wise shrinkage KPIs and monitoring systems.

5. SOP Development & Process Standardization

Develop and review SOPs covering:

• Store opening and closing
• Billing and POS operations
• Cash management
• Inventory receiving
• GRN and inward processes
• Stock transfers
• Replenishment
• Inventory audits
• Stock counting
• Damage and expiry management
• Customer returns
• Workforce scheduling
• Housekeeping and store hygiene
• Security and loss prevention
• Vendor management
• Store launch procedures

6. Store Launch & Expansion

• Develop a standardized new-store launch framework.
• Support feasibility assessment for proposed locations.
• Review store size, catchment, category mix and expected sales potential.
• Prepare pre-opening checklists.
• Coordinate with management, projects, procurement, merchandising, supply chain and HR teams.
• Establish timelines for store readiness.
• Conduct post-launch review and identify improvement areas.

7. Business Expansion Strategy

• Develop a scalable retail expansion model.
• Identify suitable formats for different markets.
• Recommend store size, category mix and investment requirements.
• Evaluate potential locations based on catchment and customer profile.
• Develop expansion SOPs and rollout plans.
• Support management in creating a 3–5 year retail expansion roadmap.
• Recommend systems required to manage a growing store network.

8. Commercial & Profitability Improvement

• Review store-wise/category-wise sales and profitability.
• Identify margin leakage.
• Improve gross-margin performance through buying, pricing and assortment.
• Review vendor commercials and negotiation opportunities.
• Recommend promotional and markdown strategies.
• Develop KPIs for sales, margin, stock and inventory productivity.

Key Deliverables

The consultant will be expected to provide practical and measurable deliverables such as:

1. Category Management Framework
2. SKU Rationalization Model
3. Store Layout & Planogram Guidelines
4. FMCG Margin Improvement Plan
5. Vendor Negotiation Framework
6. Private Label Strategy
7. Inventory & Replenishment Model
8. Shrinkage Reduction Framework
9. Store SOP Manual
10. New Store Launch Checklist
11. DC/Supply Chain Operating Framework
12. Store Performance Dashboard
13. Retail Expansion Roadmap
14. 90-Day / 180-Day Implementation Action Plan

Candidate Profile

Required Experience

• 20+ years of experience in Modern Trade / Retail / FMCG / Large-Format Retail.
• Proven experience in multi-store retail operations and business expansion.
• Strong understanding of category management, merchandising and retail supply chain.
• Experience handling large store networks is preferred.
• Strong commercial and vendor negotiation experience.
• Experience in developing and implementing retail SOPs.

Preferred Background

Candidates with experience in organizations such as:

• Big Bazaar / Future Group
• Future Retail
• D-Mart

Educational Qualification

• Graduate / Postgraduate.
• MBA in Retail Management / Marketing / Operations / Supply Chain preferred.
• Relevant professional experience will be given strong consideration.

Core Competencies

• Retail Strategy
• Category Management
• FMCG Merchandising
• Buying & Vendor Negotiation
• Store Expansion
• Retail Operations
• Supply Chain
• Inventory Management
• Private Label Development
• Planogram & Space Management
• Loss Prevention
• SOP Development
• Commercial Management
• Business Analytics
• Change Management

Success Measures

The engagement will be evaluated against measurable improvements in:

• Sales growth
• Gross-margin improvement
• Inventory turnover
• Stock availability
• SKU productivity
• Reduction in slow/non-moving inventory
• Shrinkage reduction
• Vendor commercial improvement
• Store productivity
• SOP implementation
• New-store launch readiness
• Overall retail operating efficiency